Deloitte powers up for National Grid audit

NATIONAL GRID – the £15bn international gas and electricity giant – is set to appoint Deloitte as its auditor for the year ending 31 March 2018, displacing PwC.

The move follows a competitive tender process for its statutory audit contract, overseen by its audit committee, resulting in a recommendation approved by its board.

PwC, which has held the £13.6m audit since 2002, will continue in the role and will undertake the audit of National Grid until the year ending 31 March 2017, subject to reappointment by shareholders at the July 2016 AGM.

The appointment of Deloitte will be recommended to National Grid’s shareholders for approval at the July 2017 Annual General Meeting.

Mark Williamson, chairman of National Grid’saudit committee, said: “We are pleased to have conducted a robust and comprehensive audit tender process which included meetings with members of the board and senior finance managers, references, written submissions and formal presentations to the audit committee.

“The principal evaluation criteria were audit quality, team experience and cultural fit. We thank PwC for their significant contribution to date as National Grid’s auditors since the merger with Lattice Group plc in 2002 and prior to that as the incumbent external auditors of both the merging parties. We look forward to working with Deloitte in the future.”